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The common advice to the inexperienced who wants to dabble in building their own furniture is not to do it. Building furniture is not that easy, especially if you are inexperienced. Expert furniture makers then lecture the inexperienced to just buy new ones as they proved to be less costly. If this advice does not sit well with you, then you need to look at the reasons why you should start your own building furniture:

1. Save a lot of money

Like other do – it – yourself activities, you can save a significant amount of money by building your own furniture. Most of the time, you may need to do more than one project to recover the cost of the tools. The more building furniture you build, the bigger your savings will be. You have to select your materials carefully to be able to save. You have to consider the prices of the lumber in your area and the expenses in milling the rough lumber. If you can have access to resources such as the availability of hardwood like mahogany, then there is a chance that you can probably save a lot later on. These types of wood are expensive to buy and you need to factor in the cost for the milling. Softwoods such as cheery is still an option if you want to save on the cost. If you make a couple of furniture for your house, then you can save a lot of money. You can also consider that if done well, this furniture will last a long time and can be passed on through generations.

2. Express your unique style in building furniture

Today’s living spaces can be varied, thus the furnishings need to adapt to the different home environment and spaces. For some homeowners, the only way they can get want they wanted at a reasonable cost is to build their own furniture. The custom furniture can be very unique and would surely add value to a living space. Building your own furniture brings out that uniqueness in your own as this piece was custom built specifically for that area and not everywhere else. In this way, you can take advantage of the peculiarity of your spaces to find custom solutions. The custom – build furniture can help define the maker’s personal style and this is really so much more rewarding in the end.

3. Love what you are doing

As building your furniture is not that easy, you have to love what you are to be able to sustain it. When you have a budget, it is very easy to go to a showroom and select your building furniture. However, aside from customizing your furniture to your space, the reason for building furniture is really for the love of woodworking. This is probably the best reason for building your own furniture. A lot of times, the process is not cheaper and not easy. You have to invest a lot of time and effort and it may prove to be more than the cost of your finished product. Yet, you do it anyway because you enjoy doing it.

4. Practicing your woodworking skills

In the long run, your love for woodworking will overcome all of the doubts on whether building your own furniture is all worth it. In the beginning, with your first or second project, you might not save on furniture at all. You may probably find that your expenses in building furniture are much more than buying them in a store. Yet, you are in this for the long run to develop your skills and to find ways to spend some free time. The woodworking activities becomes a hobby and you develop your skills

How and where do you start :

1. Browse and research on what you need.

You have to plan for and visualize the finished product that you would want to see. This will dictate the kind of materials to use, the time needed to finish it and even on how to make it. You may want to consider looking at free plans online and plans that you need to pay for. Big box stores also offer plans for a variety of projects. Try subscribing to woodworking magazines as they sometimes have free project plans.
Look for sources of rough lumber near you and access to a mill. Consider the cost that it would incur for processing the rough wood. You also have to consider the hardware cost, finishes, and the tools aside from your basic tools.

2. Start with easy – build projects

To obtain mastery over the whole process of woodworking, you have to start somewhere. Initially, you should be reading on woodworking books If you have not built anything before, start small. A beginners task could translate buying a piece of used furniture and refinish it. It could also be simple like utilizing part of another building furniture, found objects, scrap lumber, thrift store finds to create cheap furniture.
If you are really bent to starting from a scratch, you may want to use softwood at first and build smaller and simpler furniture like a headboard, wood hamper, coffee table and storage chest. It is better to make mistakes on the simpler items first to initially hone your carpentry skills

3. Consider your time and availability

In building furniture making takes up a lot of time, consider the time element needed to get your projects done. You don’t have to wait till you have a lot of free time to do the projects. Thoughtful consideration of the time element should do the trick. Giving time and attention to the project gives you a unique satisfaction as you will be proud of the finished product.

4. Easy on the tools

A common beginner’s mistake for the inexperienced builder is to splurge on the tools. It is a common tendency to buy the newest and best tools available in the stores. The best way to go with this is to slowly build – up your toolkits as these gadgets are costly. Also before working with the power tools which you have not used before, read the manuals first.

WHY NOT DO IT YOURSELF?

Building furniture DIY can be intimidating. If you are looking forward experiencing making your own, then we believe you are in the right place. Get It Done PH will take DIY to a whole new level that you will surely enjoy and appreciate the beauty of your very own masterpiece.